India, Nepal agree to tame Kosi by early next year
The Indo-Nepal secretary-level meeting that resumed after four years' interval here in Kathmandu ended on Wednesday reaching an understanding to complete the reconstruction of ravaged portions of the Saptakoshi embankment and bring the river to its original course by March next year.

No plans to leave country: Musharraf
Former president Gen Pervez Musharraf has Wednesday said he has no plans to leave the country.
"I will stay in Pakistan but may go abroad on a lecture trip," Musharraf said in a brief chat with a couple of reporters at the Army House where he offered Eid prayers. This was his first encounter with the media since he resigned on August 18 under threat of impeachment.

APSA-2008
5 Indian films nominated
Melbourne, October 1
Bollywood blockbusters “Om Shanti Om”, “Taare Zameen Par” and “Jodha Akbar” are among the five Indian films nominated for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards-2008, the highest accolade for films in the region. The awards for the nine out of the 12 APSA categories will be announced at Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, on November 11.
The Shahrukh Khan-Deepika Padukone starrer “Om Shanti Om” will be competing in the Best Feature Film category.

Students announce AIDS breakthrough
London, October 1
In what is being described as a breakthrough in AIDS prevention, a group of engineering students and a medical doctor are reported to have designed a simple 'shield' to block mothers transmitting the HIV virus to their babies while breastfeeding.
HIV-infected mothers who have no option but to breastfeed their babies contribute to the global spread of HIV, and scientists have long fretted over how to stop it.

UK committee to visit India, Bangladesh
London, October 1
An influential committee of British parliamentarians will visit India and Bangladesh shortly to look at the new British immigration system and the way it affects workers coming over from South Asia to the UK.
These new laws mark a dramatic shift in Britain’s immigration policy. The Home Affairs Committee will visit the VFS in Delhi and Sylhet, have a tour of the visa operations, visit the ministry for home affairs in both countries and amongst others will meet the executive director of Tata and representatives from the business community at an open stakeholder meeting.

Rowers compete on the Liujiang River during a race to celebrate National Day in Liuzhou, Guangxi Autonomous Region, on Wednesday. China celebrated the 59th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China on Wednesday. — Reuters

The Indo-Nepal secretary-level meeting that resumed after four years' interval here in Kathmandu ended on Wednesday reaching an understanding to complete the reconstruction of ravaged portions of the Saptakoshi embankment and bring the river to its original course by March next year.

“We have agreed to complete the repair of embankments by March,” Shankar Koirala, secretary, ministry of water resources of Nepal, told the reporters at the end of the meeting. Besides, representatives from both India and Nepal have also agreed to conduct further studies on the Koshi high dam and the Sunkoshi Kamala diversion.Koirala said adding, “Nepal government will ensure security during the study to be completed in one year.”

The Joint Committee on Water Resource (JCWR), the water resource secretary-level body of India and Nepal, wrapped up its three-day long meeting here today reaching 29-point agreement over several issues for resolving inundation problems along the bordering areas and expedite hydropower development projects in Nepal.

This decision was taken in the light of high-level political understanding reached between the two governments, during Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal's five-day long political visit to India recently.

During the meeting, Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and Nepalis Prime Minister Dahal had agreed to establish a three-tier mechanism - ministerial, secretary and technical levels - to rationalise and raise the efficacy of the existing bilateral mechanisms.

The two governments by establishing the mechanism aimed to push forward discussions on the development of water resources in a comprehensive manner including hydro-power generation, irrigation, flood control and other water related cooperation.

The top officials, who visited Koshi embankment breach areas on Tuesday as a part of the three-day talks, committed to complete the reconstruction of the ravaged parts of Koshi and sending the river back to its previous course until March 2009. In this regard, both countries have also agreed to hold high-level bilateral talks over the Koshi river in the first week of November.

The representatives from India and Nepal have also agreed to establish the Pancheshwar Development Authority at the earliest. The authority will develop, execute and operate the Pancheshwar Multipurpose Project. Water resources secretaries of Nepal and India will co-chair the authority.

During the meeting, the Nepali side has reiterated that the sill elevation of the head regulator for releasing water from the Tanakpur barrage to Nepal be lowered to 241.5 meter. Regarding the 245 MW Naumure hydro project, which was also one of the major agreements reached during the prime minister's visit, the two sides agreed to prepare a pre-feasibility report of the project jointly within three months. For that, Nepal needs to furnish hydrological data and topographical details within a month.

“The project will include the irrigation facilities in Kapilvastu,” Koirala added. The JCWR members have also agreed to hold next meeting in Feb 2009 in Banaras of India.

Former president Gen Pervez Musharraf has Wednesday said he has no plans to leave the country.

"I will stay in Pakistan but may go abroad on a lecture trip," Musharraf said in a brief chat with a couple of reporters at the Army House where he offered Eid prayers. This was his first encounter with the media since he resigned on August 18 under threat of impeachment.

Last week Musharraf flew out to Karachi and stayed with his daughter but did not meet any newsman. His two houses are being built in Islamabad and Karachi and family sources say Musharraf will prefer to live in Islamabad's farm house that is being rebuilt and renovated. It is expected to be ready by the end of the year or early next year.

Musharraf said several foreign research institutes and non-government organisations (NGOs) have invited him for lectures. "I will start undertaking foreign visits once necessary arrangements are finalised," he added. Musharraf is likely to be paid handsomely for these lectures.

Condemning the Marriott Hotel suicide blast, Musharraf said the military operation against militants should continue. Bajaur operation has started to produce results, he noted. Currently Musharraf is staying in the Army House that he first occupied after his elevation as army chief in 1998 but turned it into his permanent abode even after becoming President in 2001 and retirement from the army in November last year.

Melbourne, October 1
Bollywood blockbusters “Om Shanti Om”, “Taare Zameen Par” and “Jodha Akbar” are among the five Indian films nominated for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards-2008, the highest accolade for films in the region. The awards for the nine out of the 12 APSA categories will be announced at Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, on November 11.

The Shahrukh Khan-Deepika Padukone starrer “Om Shanti Om” will be competing in the Best Feature Film category.

Aamir Khan's critically acclaimed "Taare Zameen Par" and K Kanade's "Mahek" will vie for the Best Children's Feature along with “The Black Balloon”, the lone nomination from Australia.

“Jodha Akbar” has been nominated for Achievement in Cinematography while Rajat Kapoor has been nominated for Best Performance by an actor for "The Prisoner" by Pryas Gupta.

"Once again, the nominees showcase the tremendous talent that exists in film industries of the region," APSA Chairman Des Power said. — PTI

London, October 1
In what is being described as a breakthrough in AIDS prevention, a group of engineering students and a medical doctor are reported to have designed a simple 'shield' to block mothers transmitting the HIV virus to their babies while breastfeeding.

HIV-infected mothers who have no option but to breastfeed their babies contribute to the global spread of HIV, and scientists have long fretted over how to stop it.

The breakthrough promises protection to the estimated 700,000 babies who are born each year to HIV-positive mothers - the overwhelming majority of them in sub-Saharan Africa, but many thousands in India too.

The team of five engineering students and an experienced medical doctor recently announced that they had found a simple yet effective way of disinfecting breast milk by modifying an existing nipple shield.

According to one of the researchers, Stephen Gerrard of Cambridge University, the team was initially given the task of finding a practical way to "deactivate" the HIV virus by heating mother's milk.

"We quickly established the concern that this may be too lengthy for many women in developing countries, so they might not have the time for it," said Gerrard in a statement to his sponsors, the international volunteer group, Engineers Without Borders.

The team then came across a research group at Drexel University in Philadelphia who had identified a compound called Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate (SDS), which could kill the HIV virus quickly. — IANS

London, October 1
An influential committee of British parliamentarians will visit India and Bangladesh shortly to look at the new British immigration system and the way it affects workers coming over from South Asia to the UK.

These new laws mark a dramatic shift in Britain’s immigration policy. The Home Affairs Committee will visit the VFS in Delhi and Sylhet, have a tour of the visa operations, visit the ministry for home affairs in both countries and amongst others will meet the executive director of Tata and representatives from the business community at an open stakeholder meeting.

Keith Vaz, MP, chairman of the committee, has been apprised of these new regulations that will cause enormous difficulties not only for people trying to come over to work in the UK but also for the British businesses trying to fill vacancies for skilled positions.

Vaz said: “I am very pleased that the committee is able to visit India and Bangladesh to consider the way, in which these new rules will affect UK businesses, businesses from the subcontinent who are often vital to the UK economy, and also the skilled workers that the UK needs to attract.” — PTI

Man cleared for asylum after years of detention
LOS ANGELES: A Sri Lankan man has become eligible for asylum in the US after being detained for more than four years on allegations he was a member of LTTE, a civil liberties group spokeswoman said. The US attorney- general’s office decided last week that it would not review an Immigration Appeals Board decision granting asylum to Ahilan Nadarajah, who was released from custody in 2006. — AP

Gurkhas can settle in UK
LONDON: Gurkhas, who have tirelessly fought for Britain for generations, have finally won the right to settle in the country after a long-drawn legal battle. The landmark ruling by the high court was an official recognition of the service that the Nepalese soldiers had given to Britain. This, Justice Blake said, earned them ''an unquestionable moral debt of honour'' from the British people. — UNI

Diana’s letter sold at auction
LONDON: A letter written by a young Princess Diana, in which she admitted trying to marry off her elder sister to her future husband Prince Charles was sold at an auction in England for £ 12,000. In 1978, aged 17, the future Princess of Wales wrote to her nanny, Mary Clarke, that she and her brother Charles and sister Jane were trying to “marry off Sarah to various men but have failed in every direction”. — AFP

Fire in Japan store kills 15
TOKYO: A fire at a video store in downtown Osaka, west of Tokyo, killed 15 men and seriously injured four, a spokeswoman at a local fire department said on Wednesday. About 120 firefighters and 40 fire engines battled the blaze on the first floor of a seven-storeyed building, the spokeswoman added. There were no immediate details of what caused the fire or how many people were evacuated from the scene. — Reuters

Gorbachev to form party
MOSCOW: A Russian billionaire has said he is teaming up with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to form a new political party that would challenge the country’s recent steps away from democracy. Alexander Lebedev, a former lawmaker who has built a fortune in business and investment, said he and Gorbachev would work together in a political movement tentatively named the Independent Democratic Party. — AP

5 die in missile strike in Pak
Islamabad: Five persons, including foreign militants, were killed and six injured in a missile strike in Pakistan's restive North Waziristan tribal region today. Two missiles were fired at a house in the Khushali Torikhel area near Mir Ali town at around midnight, TV channels reported. Among the five persons who died were foreign militants, the reports said. — PTI